The Knowability of the Word of God

We know something when we make what it is enough of who we are, by giving enough of who we are to it, that we may bear responsible witness to it. This is how the Church may know the Word of God. But we do not know God’s Word in this way by nature. We know it only by God’s grace. We know it only when, with his Word, God grants us sinners the ability to hear his Word in spite of ourselves.

The Nature of the Word of God

2. God’s Word as the Speech of God

The Word of God in its three forms always exists with a physical aspect—the sound of preaching, the page of Scripture, the body of Jesus Christ—or it could not come to us as physical creatures. But God’s Word is primarily spiritual because it is primarily a form of rational communication between God and us. Consequently, we do better to focus on understanding and obeying God’s Word than on how it sounds or makes us feel.

The Word of God in Its Threefold Form

1. Preaching

As Christians, we may say much about God, but all these words are not the Word of God. For our words to become God’s Word, God must first actively command us to speak them. Second, God must freely choose in love to make himself the object of our talk. Third, God must judge our talk to be true both in relation to him and in relation to ourselves. Finally, our words become God’s Word in the miraculous moment that God chooses to make them so. When this divine command, objectification, judgment, and event occur, we render true service in freedom to God and our words become the Word of God to be heard and obeyed.